Menendez to Resign Next Month

On Jul 23, 2024

Multiple sources are reporting that Sen. Bob Menendez will resign his Senate seat effective Aug. 20. The decision comes after he was convicted last week in a federal bribery case, in which the three-term senator was found guilty of all 16 charges brought against him.

Top Democrats including Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had called for Menendez to resign last week after the guilty verdicts were brought down.

For now, the verdicts end a two-year saga encompassing a June 2022 FBI raid on Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home, a September 2023 federal indictment, and a trial that involved nine weeks of testimonies from 34 witnesses.

Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were found guilty of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for the senator using his power and influence to protect and to enrich three New Jersey businessmen – Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, and Jose Uribe – and to benefit the government of Egypt. The bribes came in the form of cash, gold, home mortgage payments, a Mercedes Benz and a low-show or no-show job for Nadine Menendez.

All told, the 16 indictments found Menendez guilty “on the conspiracy to commit” bribery, honest services wire fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice, and the biggest charge, conspiracy of acting as a foreign agent.

While Daibes, Hana, Menendez and his wife pleaded not guilty to the charges, Uribe pleaded guilty to seven counts and testified against the senator.

Menendez is due to be sentenced on Oct. 29 and faces decades in prison. He has said he will appeal his conviction.

Governor Murphy will now begin the process of selecting an interim replacement for Menendez in the Senate.

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